rawbunzel
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posted on December 8, 2000 09:49:48 PM
The only free ISP that I can locate that isn't going under on the 10th of December is NET-ZERO. They look far too invasive to me.I don't mind looking at ad banners but I do not want all my online movements tracked and my information sold.
Does anyone know of any other good free ISP's left out there?
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brighid868
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posted on December 8, 2000 09:53:54 PM
rawbunzel, I have relatives who use bluelight.com. They seem satisfied with it, and it has a big company (Kmart) backing it. I don't know how invasive it is, but it is free....
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Pocono
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posted on December 8, 2000 09:55:50 PM
K-Mart announced that bluelight.com is done after Christmas.
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mcjane
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posted on December 8, 2000 09:58:43 PM
barnes&nobel.com
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jenniphant
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:00:39 PM
http://www.thesimpsons.com
Nothin' fancy, but it's free dial-up access and email. It's backed by the Fox network/The Simpsons and Butterfinger. If anyone's heard of this one going under, let me know!
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outoftheblue
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:02:46 PM
There are some free ISPs left. I use Net-Zero and My Free Net. Both are a bit of a pain but they are free.
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rawbunzel
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:03:58 PM
Jenniphant-I don't want anything fancy! I don't even need email. Just plain internet access!
mcjane- Does Barnes and Noble supply internet access? [ Or do they just have books about it?  ]
[ edited by rawbunzel on Dec 8, 2000 10:06 PM ]
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rawbunzel
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:05:25 PM
Outof theblue- My Free Net is one that I checked on tonight that say they are quitting on the 10th of this month. How do you like Net-Zero?
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jmjones6061
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:06:35 PM
Lycos.com has free internet - also my sister uses spiegel.com (backed by the catalog people).
I'm not sure of any others.
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amalgamated2000
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:07:57 PM
AT&T is now offering service for $4.95 per month and there are no annoying ads to deal with. I haven't used the service, but the only catch that I know of is that it's limited to 150 hours per month (almost 40 hours per week.)
The remaining free internet services will die quickly because all of the customers from those that are closing will move to those that remain, overwhelming their system without bringing in any additional revenue.
In the future, I think that there will be free internet services, but they will be part of bundles, such as free service when you buy a computer, open a brokerage account, use your frequent flier miles, etc. The current model makes absolutely no sense and will be gone very, very shortly.
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chiefsmoky
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:10:43 PM
FreeLane powered by Excite!!! It only takes about 3 minutes to download to your desktop and at least in my area, has 5 different local call-up numbers!!!
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twelvepole
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:13:53 PM
chiefsmoky I also use freelane sometimes and it is pretty good. and they do offer more than one phone number here also.
I haven't seen where they are going away yet.
Ain't Life Grand...
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rawbunzel
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:22:25 PM
Well, I went to Excite and I do not see anywhere that they offer free internet access.Maybe they quit? I went to Lycos and guess what? Going out of the ISP business on Dec.10th! ARRGGHH!!!
[ edited by rawbunzel on Dec 8, 2000 10:22 PM ]
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chiefsmoky
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:31:29 PM
Do an internet search for FreeLane!!! I'm using their free internet service right now!!! I just checked and they say to look for their new 2.0 version, coming soon!!! Maybe they'll be around for awhile???
Your friend, Clark
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whyizzit
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:35:34 PM
My son uses Netzero and all was well until one day he got a 400.00 phone bill from Pacbell!
Turns out when he hit connect, it was bringing up another window- he didn't know why so hit connect again.....this went on and on. It was dialing up a long distance # - not the one that he chose when he joined Netzero.
When he got the bill from Pacbell - they said it was the ISP problem - Netzero said it was pacbell-----nobody knows - but my poor son is still paying the bill.
He found a way to get rid of the other connection- he suspects that it was a secondary # if the free ISP was inaccessible. They deny that.......
Oh well- he is still on it~ but I pay for my ISP and feel it is the best way for now. When they are REALLY free, and they will be- I'll be the first in line.
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mcjane
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:40:47 PM
rawbunzel: They have free access, I have it. I bought a computer last Saturday & that's what I'm using. I'm using webtv right now because I don't know much about my computer. I have 6 months free access with webtv & it's over on 12/18 so I'm going to have to start learning because I'm dropping webtv on the 17th of Dec. (just becase it costs 24.99 a month.) I like free stuff.
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mcjane
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:51:18 PM
whyizzit: That sounds like something that would happen to me because I don't know what I'm doing. As I said I'm on webtv tonight & it's because I kept getting an "invalid user" message on the computer. Don't know why because I was using the right user ID & password. I couldn't get on line, so will just have to wait until my son comes tomorrow to let me know what I'm doing wrong. BTW, It's not fair that your son has to pay that bill. Things like that shouldn't happen.
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rawbunzel
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posted on December 8, 2000 10:53:42 PM
chiefsmokey,twelvepole, I went to Freelane and it is powered by 1st up which is the same thing that is powering Alta Visa and Lycos both quitting on the 10th. I did not see where they were not having internet service after the 10th, but I have to wonder how they will still be able to use the same service that is going out of business on the tenth?
mcjane, I will go to Barnes and Noble next to check them out. I like free stuff too and in two years have not had to pay to get on the net. I would hate to start paying now!
whyizzit, That is the kind of thing I hate about those big ISPs. I think Net Zero is like a free AOL. That really is not what I want but if it turns out to be the last gasp of the free ISPs I guess I will end up using it!
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mcjane
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posted on December 8, 2000 11:01:51 PM
rawbunzel: You sound like my son, he has never paid either. He used up all the free offers from AOL, Compusrve & Prodigy & is now on thesimpsons.com. Oh BTW he also had iwon.com a few months ago. I don't know if they have free access or not, but that was his address & I know he wasn't paying.
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chiefsmoky
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posted on December 8, 2000 11:06:00 PM
I just recently switched from AltaVista to FreeLane!!! When I first accessed FreeLane, it said that it was powered by 1st Up!!! I think that FreeLane replaced 1st Up with Excite in order to continue their free service!!! The icon the appears on your computer clearly says FreeLane powered by Excite!!! I've even got an e-mail address that ends in an @excite.com!!!
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rawbunzel
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posted on December 8, 2000 11:11:11 PM
Maybe I will try Freelane and Barnes and Noble! I would hope one of them will still be up and running after the tenth!
I looked at The Simpsons but did not see anywhere on their site for free ISP. Will look again tomorrow when my eyes are not so tired!
Thanks all for the ideas!
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chenillec
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posted on December 8, 2000 11:52:32 PM
I am on thesimpsons.com. It's pain in a@@ if you don't mind clicking on the banner every 10 minutes. Every 5 minutes you get pop up banner. On top of that, thesimpsons.com will send additional pop up banner to notify you, they will disconnect you if don't click on their advertising banner. You have to feel the pain to be free.
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chiefsmoky
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posted on December 9, 2000 12:03:22 AM
I went back and checked the details about FreeLane out and you've got me worried now!!! I'd hate to think that they will go out of business on December 10!!! There is no indication that they will terminate service on December 10 on their home page but it does appear that 1ST UP still plays an important part in their company!!! I'm not going to list any more eBay auctions until I know for certain if I'm going to have to scramble to find another ISP!!! I guess I'll find out on December 10!!!
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bhearsch
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posted on December 9, 2000 12:24:23 AM
Hi rawbunzel. Bluelight, which is owned by Kmart has purchased Spinway's core assets in order to keep their free ISP service going. I don't know how long they'll continue with this service but I've found them to be the most reliable and least invasive out there. I use Bluelight as a back-up and haven't had any problem getting connected and my speeds are as good as my regular ISP. The banner ad is very small and can be moved to any corner of your screen. They use Yahoo for your email account. You can pick up the disk at any Kmart store or download the software from their website. http://www.bluelight.com Here is an article about Bluelight taking over Spinway's assets:
http://www.zdii.com/industry_list.asp?mode=news&doc_id=RTNC44060253776&ticker=bnbn
This is a good site to check on the available free ISP's in your area although it may not have the current info on the ones that recently closed or are going to close.
http://www.freeispsearch.com/
When you do find a free ISP that you like you may want to check to see if their software is listed on this spyware page since many of these free services do use spyware bugs. Bluelight DOES NOT.
http://www.alphalink.com.au/~johnf/dspypdf.html
Good luck,
Blanche
[ edited by bhearsch on Dec 9, 2000 12:27 AM ]
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outoftheblue
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posted on December 9, 2000 01:08:27 AM
rawbunzel
Thanks for the info on My-freenet. I wasn't aware that they were going out of business. You might try Juno http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/
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rawbunzel
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posted on December 9, 2000 11:11:58 PM
Chiefsmokey, You aren't going to like this but it looks like Freelane goes down tomorrow. They direct you to the page to down load version 2 which is supposed to keep them going but there is now way to download yet ,just says coming soon.
Blanche, Thanks for the links! I have signed up for Bluelight to at least keep me going till I find something else. That Freeisp search site is great!Bookmarked it for future reference.
I am really going to miss my Alta vista. They have been really reliable.
Good luck to the rest of you that will be seeking a new ISP! Don't forget some of your buyers might lose theirs too so something to remember if you don't hear from some right away. Lots of bargain hunters on the net that like to surf for free!
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brie49
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posted on December 9, 2000 11:20:38 PM
Has anyone tried ourhouse.com? It's backed by Ace Hardware.
I've heard you can pick up the CD at any Ace Hardware for free internet access.
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Joanne
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posted on December 10, 2000 05:44:57 AM
I just tried to get to the freelane page but it wasn't available.
I was using MyPoints Connect but they are going down too, they also used 1st Up.
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goodvibrations
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posted on December 10, 2000 06:31:55 AM
Free ISPs are going under really fast. High expense and zero revenue is such a bad business model, regardless of the business.
Save yourself the heartburn, bite the bullet, and sign up with a provider that might be around longer than a few months.
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bhearsch
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posted on December 10, 2000 10:25:54 AM
rawbunzel, I hope you like Bluelight. They require you to use their homepage as your homepage but I don't have a problem with that since it only takes a second to leave the site. I find this better than having a huge banner following me around or having "call home" spyware bugs implanted on my hard drive. I didn't want the yahoo messenger software on my system but I was able to get rid of it after I installed the Bluelight software.
I think Kmart may try to make a go of Bluelight since they did spend some money to buy Spinway's core assets. The only free ISP's that I see making money are the ones that are major merchandise outlets, like Kmart, who will receive added business by offering free internet access to their customers. The reason Kmart didn't let Bluelight go down when Spinway pulled the plug was because of the amount of extra income they were receiving due to their increased customer base with Bluelight. Anyway, I hope they can make a go of because it's convenient to have a back-up even when you're already paying for an ISP. BTW, Bluelight has been making changes in some of their local access dial-up numbers due to their takeover from Spinway. Be sure to check out the ALERT on the top right of their homepage - click on the blue light bulb.
Blanche
[ edited by bhearsch on Dec 10, 2000 10:31 AM ]
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